The lightweight division entered a new era with Islam Makhachev defeating Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. It was an eventful week, and we highlight the most important topics below.

Nurmagomedov spent $1 million on Makhachev training camp

It’s rare for the average MMA fighter to make $1 million per fight, let alone have $1 million invested into a single training camp. As Makhachev entered the octagon for his lightweight title fight against Oliveira, the commentary team alluded to the fact that Makhachev’s training camp for UFC 280 cost $1 million. When Submission Radio asked Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez about the training camp costs, Mendez responded with “Khabib is a very beautiful and generous individual that’s not looking for anything in return except for his brothers winning and accomplishing their goals.”

Makhachev was the favorite student of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the late father of Khabib Nurmagomedov. It was always Abdulmanap’s plan to have Makhachev become the UFC lightweight champion after Khabib retired from the sport. Khabib did whatever he could to ensure that his father’s plan came true, so he set up an elite training camp for Makhachev.

We spoke to a fighter that’s competed in UFC main events and asked how much a typical training camp costs for an MMA fighter. He told us that fighters usually pay 10 percent of their purse to their gyms for full training camps and that it’s rare for a training camp to exceed $15,000 – $20,000 without a purse split. 

LeBron James often talks about how he spends $1 million per year on taking care of his body. Makhachev had $1 million spent on him for a single training camp. Training under the tutelage of Nurmagoedov and having the benefits of $1 million training camps could ensure a long title reign for Makhachev.

Dana White confirms Conor McGregor isn’t in the USADA testing pool

Remember in the fourth edition of OverUnder, when we discussed that Conor McGregor hasn’t been tested by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in 2022? No one knew why until Dana White spoke about it at the UFC 280 press conference. White confirmed to the media that McGregor hasn’t been tested in 2022 because he’s currently not inside the USADA testing pool.

https://twitter.com/MMAFighting/status/1583948668981645312

Fighters are typically removed from the USADA testing pool when they are released or retire from competition. We saw it happen with Henry Cejudo, Daniel Cormier and Nurmagomedov, who stopped being tested by USADA after their retirements. The difference here is that McGregor hasn’t retired from the sport. He’s actively talking about fighting future opponents on Twitter. So if McGregor hasn’t retired, why is he not being tested by USADA?

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/1584693447759659008

You can only assume why he’s not being tested, but if McGregor chooses to fight in the UFC again, he would have to spend six months in the USADA testing pool before he can fight. The only way to avoid this is if USADA grants McGregor an exemption that lets him come back earlier than other fighters could.

Jon Anik re-signs with the UFC

The UFC announced via their news account that they’ve re-signed Jon Anik, who will continue to serve as the lead play-by-play commentator for the promotion. In addition to his play-by-play duties, Anik will continue to be the lead host of all pre- and post-fight coverage at the desk for UFC pay-per-views, host official and ceremonial weigh-ins, and host the annual UFC Hall of Fame ceremony.

https://twitter.com/UFCNews/status/1585683490321801216

This announcement comes two weeks after Brandon Fitzgerald announced that he also re-signed with the UFC to serve as the play-by-play commentator for UFC Fight Nights. The UFC’s future when it comes to play-by-play commentators is secure for the foreseeable future.

https://twitter.com/BrendanFitzTV/status/1580990021825200129

Anik first signed with the UFC in October 2011 and made his commentary debut alongside his friend Kenny Florian for “UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs. Miller” in January of 2012. This event also marked the UFC debut of future lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Congrats to the UFC and Anik on another milestone. Anik has always been a supporter of the Verdict Community, and we’re excited that he’ll continue to be the soundtrack of the octagon.

Khamzat Chimaev gets into an altercation with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin

Khamzat Chimaev and Khabib Nurmagomdeov have had a complicated relationship over the past few years, and we saw that first-hand last week during UFC 280. While Islam Makhachev was celebrating his title win inside the octagon, Chimaev was getting into a physical altercation with Abubakar Nurmagomedov, who’s the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, outside the octagon.

The altercation started when Khamzat went to greet Abubakar and shake his hand. Abubakar felt disrespected by the way Khamzat tapped his stomach, which led to them arguing which led to punches being thrown. The altercation went viral and was one of the most talked about topics coming out of UFC 280.

The following morning, the Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, posted a screenshot of a video call he had with Khamzat and Abubakar, with the two appearing friendly with each other. Kadyrov said in the Instagram post that he personally made sure that Khamzat and Abubakar would be peaceful with each other.

A video was then released with Khabib Nurmagomedov putting an end to his camp’s issues with Khamzat, as he stood alongside Khamzat, Makhachev, Abubakar, and AbuZayed Vismuradov who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. for war crimes and is the right-hand man of Ramzan Kadyrov.

Quick Hits

• Raul Rosas Jr. set to be youngest-ever UFC fighter at UFC 282 vs. Jay Perrin.

• Anderson Silva wants his final MMA fight to take place in Japan.

• Alexander Volkanovski is interested in fighting Conor McGregor.

Verdict is the mixed martial arts platform for fan engagement. Available on iOS and Android. Verdict’s mission is to increase engagement of the MMA viewing experience. Primarily, using innovative data collection methods that are shared with the community. We’re increasing transparency within the MMA community and its thoughts by aggregating crowd-sourced data and sharing it back. By leveraging a user focused design, we’re bringing fight data to the community’s finger tips.